Untitled 1995

Ursula von Rydingsvard made this untitled print, we don't know when, using a drawing technique with ink on paper. It's a small work, just six inches square, and the whole image is of a hand, not a realistic rendering but more like a map of gesture. Looking closely, you can see that the hand is built up from thousands of tiny, scribbled marks. Each one is like a little decision, a moment of pressure and release. The ink is dense and dark, almost like a shadow. These marks build up to create areas of tone and texture. In the fingers, the marks get so dense they turn solid black, whereas the palm and wrist are more open, with the white of the paper showing through. The cumulative effect is amazing: it’s a drawing that feels both precise and totally free, as if the artist is thinking through the act of drawing. Like Cy Twombly's work, it's about the conversation between the hand, the mind, and the material. The ambiguity invites us to bring our own experiences and associations to the piece, making it a mirror for our own way of seeing.